The second annual Charlie Beavers Memorial Expedition.
aka "The Pray To God But Row Toward Shore Tour".
Expedition Goal: To run the 7 Great Rivers of California.
Never before have all of the major High Sierra multiday river expeditons been completed in one season.
This is the journal of that trip.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Middle Kings Day 3 "The Meat of the Run" aka The Gorges

Toby dropping in day 3.
photo by Nikki Kelly

We awoke and immediately were in the shit, thick. All negotiated the first part of the upper gorge successfully. Buffy was second to last to drop into the middle and got stomped in a nasty hole. She swam and self-rescued herself by fighting up a big boulder on the river left (ironically the same cave where Tommy was vertically extracted two years prior). Unfortunately, her boat took off and ran the huge slide before she had the opportunity to re-board.

Tommy in the first gorge
photo by Nikki Kelly

The boys in the second part of the first gorge.

photo by Nikki Kelly

photo by Nikki Kelly

After this action you roll onto the biggest slide of the river.

Here is a shot of Tommy from the top of the slide.
photo by Nikki Kelly

Right below this slide comes the gorge with the waterfall and then a portage.

Toby running the waterfall gorge.
photos by Nikki Kelly

Buffy Bailey Burge running the waterfall.
photo by Nikki Kelly

Tommy hauling boats up the portage.
photo by Nikki Kelly

After the portage you drop back into the river and run the classic Willie Kern meltdown rapid. Here is a shot of Buffy.

photo by Nikki Kelly

This gorge leads to another, even tighter gorge with some serious “stuff”.

Tired and with a broken kayak we made our Fourth of July camp in a flatter section of the river.
No big party, just a little bit of potato vodka and a couple of flint bombs and our fireworks show was over.